Pick #67: Colonial Gothic

With all his fame, one would almost forget that James Maliszewski did more than invent Dwimmermount or blog fervently on his Grognardia. With Richard Iorio II he also co-wrote Colonial Gothic. A role playing game of historical horror fantasy in the Colonial days of America.

And it's good. That might be easy to say about someone famous' produce, but it just is.  Funny thing is, the game is almost as hidden as it's subject matter, Colonial Horrors. But really, it's one of the very few games I'm curious about playing. Not just once, but campaignwise.

And that's not just because it touches on similar subject matter as my own "The French Invade Texas" - just to put in a shameless plug for my own games.

If you want to imagine a bit what it's setting is like, imagine what Call of Cthulhu might have been, if it was written by Edgar Allan Poe, and set in the pre-revolution days of North America. When the French, the native Indians, the British and the Dutch still vied for supremacy. Where the Germans fought as Hessian soldiers, witchcraft was real, and the land was without highways or motorcars. But with demons.

Have a look. The pdf is not too expensive, the game system is fairly simple - yet with two twelve sided dice as its base, it's quite esoteric -, artwork simple but evocative. Also the supplements - written by a host of experts - are intriguing, telling of a past we often forgot about. Like Colonial France, when a full third of North America was officially under French control. When we forget about the native Americans, that is. And if you prefer Freemasons or Knights Templar, there are booklets about those too.